Greek Customs De-mystified

Since Greece was a big part of the Byzantine or Eastern Roman Empire,  it makes sense that their customs procedures are Byzantine as well.

You basically have two, though sometimes three, different groups to deal with at any given time: Port Police and Customs – the two typical players, and then occasionally the regular police depending on the port of entry.

The Greeks seem to be worried about both the boat and its passengers, but different departments worry about them differently. Not quite sure why, basically they treat yachts much the same as they would a freighter. When you enter a country you need to clear customs … except when you are on a boat in Greece … then you need to take your passports to Port Police and fill out a crew list that the Port Police stamp. Now you are ready to go to customs.

Customs do two things, they admit the people into the country, and then they give you a Transit Log – a kind of official document that shows that the boat is legally in the country and allows people to use the boat on behalf of the owners request. Though I am regularly asked for my boat papers (registration and insurance) at marinas, I have only been asked to show my transit log at Port Police. Once you have a Transit Log (30 Euros) you can then go back to Port Police to get it stamped – oh boy!

Then you get it stamped by Port Police and away you go. You are supposed to check in with Port Police every month or so, or when you leave an area. The Chania Port Police seemed interested in my Transit log as was the guy in Pilos. Other towns they just wave you off and send you on your way.

When you lay the boat up in the boat yard it is important to hand your Transit Log in otherwise you end up paying a hefty tax because you’ve been in the water in Greece for a long time. This cost me about 750Euros one year … oops.

Before you lay the boat up you must go to Port Police and tell them that you’re going out of the water at the boat yard. They then stamp the transit log with a couple of stamps and signatures. Sometimes this has a nominal fee of 10Euros or so. Then you’re off to Customs and you physically hand over your document to them. They keep it in their file for another season.

Every 18 months you need to leave Greek waters … and venture into either International Waters or to another country. In each of the past years we have taken the boat to Albania … we have 18 months to do this and if we are out of the water can likely receive an extension, so we will see what happens in 2016.

3 Days on Dry Land … Enough to drive anybody crazy

Aegean Air, pickup the bags and walk to Cleopatra

Removing the old batteries

Getting the boat ready is always a bit of a whirlwind punctuated by surprise problems, lack of sleep, and anticipation. Ross and I arrived at Aktio airport at around 2pm and walked from the airport to the marina – about 2-3 Kms, made slightly more difficult because we each had 50# bags full of boat parts and a computer as well as some books and stuff. Nonetheless, Ross shamed me into walking to the airport so we hoofed our way to Cleopatra, then we visited  Tara and deposited the boat parts, and proceeded to our room and turned the aircon on full-blast.

Cleopatra, the big marina across the bay

Mid-day is not a bad day to have a nap so Ross headed to the air-conditioned room while I hooked up the electricity on the boat so that we could start testing things and reinstalling them.

On my way to Port Police and Customs in Preveza -- good
thing that they're only a mile apart!

Loading the new chain

Basically the idiom that the better job we do putting the boat away, the better the re-commissioning in is accurate. Good news is that we have putting the boat to bed down to a bit of a science. I generally have the engine serviced a few days before we haul out. Our system of hauling the halyards to the top of the mast and boxing the ends works like a charm saving the expensive running rigging from wear. The first year we needed to buy about $1,000 of line as we had destroyed three halyards as they whipped themselves silly. Putting the sails on is a bit of a crap shoot. The main is easier than the jib (1/3 the size) but it cannot be too windy … and while we were up in the boatyard it was way too windy.

The batteries Ross carried down the ladder

We had most of the systems ready to go by Saturday and the boat was mostly together by Sunday. We had ordered new batteries and new chain, so these needed to be installed before we could hit the water. Fortunately, on Saturday afternoon they delivered the batteries via very tall forklift. Ross the gomer didn’t wait for them to come pickup the old ones. He carried them down the ladder – I guess to prove how strong he is. I had visions of him falling and having the battery crush his chest. Oof, what a way to go. For the last two batteries (after I caught him doing this by himself) I belayed the batteries with a strong line … so we had a modicum of safety (or at least the illusion of it).

Another breakfast at Food & More. Ham and Eggs with
coffee for me, Scrambled eggs with tea for Ross

By Sunday we were ready to put in ... but they don’t work Sundays in Greece so another Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner at Food & More, a great restaurant but you simply cannot eat one place for 11 meals in a row and not hate it.

Beginning of another season

Monday brought electrical storms and 25 knots of breeze with sideways rain. We’re not launching until this gets better. By 14:00 it started to clear up and in we went. We pre-cranked the motor a few times and then lit it … first try. I LOVE YANMAR ENGINES! We then backed into the slip still in strong wind tied up and began to relax as Tara is back where she belongs … in the water.

Boat Maintenance – nothing the liberal application of money cannot fix

What a  Crazy amount of Parts and Boat
Preparation at the beginning of the season

Those that know me know that I am the ultimate do-it-yourself person. I truly believe that there is not a single thing that I cannot fix. I have rebuilt my Mercedes, completely restored our sailboat Scarlet, replaced the ball-joints on our F250, rebuilt Rhett’s engine twice, as well as laid floor, built bathrooms, electrical systems … you name it I can do it.

That said, I do have a fairly low threshold for some types of work and I have developed a very low threshold of tolerance for equipment that is not reliable.

Glad I didn't need to lug this tonne of chain to the boat!

This year the two big things we replaced on the boat were the batteries (they were 4 years old and not charging fast anymore), and our anchor chain that had become very rusty and littered the deck with rust every time we retrieved it.

Nearly there, on the travelift at Cleopatra

The best thing about buying stuff at Cleopatra – let me assure that it is not the price, is that they deliver it to you at the boat. Each of Tara’s batteries weigh about 100#. The guys from Cleopatra showed up with a forklift that was tall enough to lift the batteries to the side of the boat. This saved us a huge amount of pain and suffering .. easily worth the 60-100Euros I could have saved by lugging the batteries from a store … across the street into the dinghy … into the dinghy … out of the dinghy onto the back of the boat … and then removing the old ones.

Here is a list of things that I will and will not do on the boat:

Will Do	Won’t Do
Anything on the engine	Polish the hull (takes 3 days with poor results) and is poisonous to breathe
Anything electrical	Paint the bottom (Poison)
Anything fiberglass	Fix anything to do with a Toilet – we just replace this stuff (Poison)
Varnish or woodwork	Fix anything with Gas (Ka-Boom). This is new
	Canvas or Sails – (Poor results)

So Great when you're finally in the water